Exercise can sometimes reverse memory loss, study finds

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The sooner you start exercising, the more you might remember.

A recent study by the Department of Psychology at Kent State University shows that physical activity and exercise play a crucial role in actually reversing some memory loss. The research was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

The study, by neuropsychologists John Gunstad and Mary Beth Spitznagel, examined the effect of exercise on patients with heart failure -- because those patients are at high risk of memory loss.

"Since not enough blood is being pumped to the body, not enough blood is being pumped to the brain, either," explains Gunstad. "Past studies have shown that 80 percent of people with heart failure also have a problem with memory, or other kinds of thinking skills."

The study's goal was to determine whether exercise or physical activity could reverse that condition.

Two hundred patients at Summa Health System in Akron participated in the research over a five-year time period. Half of them went through a cardiac rehab program that incorporated exercise; half did not.

The term physical activity is used to mean things like walking around the house, running errands and shopping; exercise refers to a planned physical activity that is performed at a higher level of intensity.

Previous studies had shown that both physical activity and exercise could prevent the onset of memory loss.

"But our research takes it further, showing that exercise can reverse some of those processes," Gunstad says.

Still, the sooner you begin a regular exercise program, the better -- even if you are already in your 40s or 50s when you start, Gunstad says.

Those findings are similar to those of another study recently published in the Journal of Aging Research. That research, done at the University of British Columbia, involved dozens of women between ages 70 and 80, who had mild cognitive impairment -- meaning their memory and thinking skills were worse than expected for their chronological age.

The subsets of women who exercised, either by walking or weight training, performed better on cognitive tests after six months of exercise than they had before they started. Interestingly, women who walked for exercise showed greater gains in verbal memory than women who had lifted weights. Yet women who lifted weights improved their associative ability, meaning they could better recall things in context.

That suggests that endurance training and weight training may have different physiological effects within the brain.

Gunstad and Spitznagel's study also showed that both exercise and physical activity made a difference. Patients who only exercised, but spent much of the rest of the day sitting or resting, were missing out on some benefits.

The patients exercisedunder supervision, on treadmills, ellipticals or exercise bikes.

"We followed them for about a year, and we looked at the effects of what they did after they went back to the 'real world,' " says Gunstad.

When the study ended, they were encouraged to continue to exercise, even if itmeant just walking briskly outside on a regular basis. Some people were able to easily stick with the routine, while others had a harder time. As cardiac patients, the study subjects may have been more motivated than the average person.

Some people just didn't like exercising; others had trouble fitting it in, or felt too fatigued when they did, noted the researchers.

"But the take-home message was this: Physical activity is good for the brain, and exercise is great for the brain," Gunstad says.

The five-year-project will end in a few months; final assessments will be made then.

"But the initial numbers suggest that people who go through rehab show improvement in memory and other cognitive abilities, improvements that last," he says.

That is significant, because cognition and thinking skills can decline with age. "By the time people are older than 80 or 85, 50 percent of them will meet the criteria for some dementia," says Spitznagel.

A future study by Gunstad and Spitznagel will examine what kinds of personality and motivational factors separate those who continue their exercise programs from those who don't.

But one thing that the two researchers know already: "A person has to have a level of buy-in," says Spitznagel. "They have to know, and believe, the potential of how helpful exercise and physical activity can be."

A couple of things that increase the odds of a person sticking with an exercise program include truly committing to improving one's health and telling others of that commitment. That might mean signing up for an exercise class or making plans to walk with friends.